For decades, the design of virtual space has been focused on creating increasingly accurate simulations of the physical world in order to enable believable virtual spatial experiences.This thesis seeks to question this dependency through a video reflective micro ethnography.

A small sample of participants used Google Tilt Brush, a virtual reality drawing program, two times over the course of 6 months. They were interviewed before and after entering Virtual Reality, and were also asked to watch a film of the musing VR and explain their processes. This has produced a series of results which demonstrate to what extent the believability of a post-physical experience relies on a priori knowledge of the physical world, the virtual simulation of physical spatial cues, and also tests the lasting impact of a virtual experience on successive physical experiences. These results establish a framework around which future post-physical architectures can be constructed that are both spatially innovative and experientially believable.